I really was a shell of the person I am now0My name's Nicole and this is my story0So, at about four years old my mum left my dad with me and my little brother0It was just really a time of a lot of trauma in my life0We were in two fires and then my nextdoor neighbour got stabbed0I would have flashbacks to the fire where I would be in total darkness and so frightened, and I just remember feeling really helpless at a really young age0And, as a family, it did really break us0So ten years ago trauma wasn't really something that young girls were known to experience0it was soldiers, it was people much older than me0I just wasn't really getting the help that I needed0And I made friends with a girl who was a Christian0She encouraged me to come to the Scripture Union club that our school ran, then I heard the gospel for the first time0I heard the good news"0I heard about a God who was loving and who loved me, and who made me, and who had a plan for my life, and a purpose for it0I wanted to know more about that God and I prayed, I was like, "If you're real, Lord, I really want to know you "and I want to follow you, "and I want to accept you as my Saviour0 And I just remember this overwhelming peace just feeling like, actually, God was just present with me there, and I don't think that feeling's ever left me0I decided that, actually, I was ready to be baptised0I feel like, at that point, I would say I was healed from the trauma that no doctor, no counsellor, no psychologist had been able to heal0My life wasn't bound by trauma anymore, my life wasn't bound by the past either, and I really had a new life0I am extremely passionate about politics0I felt like a lot of the politicians weren't really reflective of me and didn't represent my experience in life0And, as a young female Christian, I'd like to try and just be a voice in politics0Sometimes I feel like I don't speak very eloquently, or I get my words mumbled up, but I don't want that to stop me because I know that God's at work through your words and that, actually, He wants you to share what He's done in your life
